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I really do hope there is a Soc. Sec. COLA for 2012. If there is one, then we won't have to listen to the moaning, groaning, and bellyaching that we have during years when there isn't one. Some people seem to think the COLA is their due in order to keep ahead, and that lack of one means they are falling behind. But actually the whole idea behind the existence of COLA's is to keep people even - neither ahead nor behind. In practice this works out imperfectly in both directions, as it is widely acknowledged that the 2009 COLA (the most recent one for Soc. Sec.) was "too high".
Well, on second thought, nothing will keep some people from moaning, groaning, and bellyaching. They will just say that the 2012 COLA (assuming there is one) is too little (regardless of how much it turns out to be) to "make up" for not having a COLA at all two years running. Mark my words.
Hmmmm. A moaning, groaning, bellyaching post about other people moaning, groaning, and bellyaching. How refreshing.
We'll get what we get. Guesswork is fine, but Ill just wait. They'll tell me how much it is when it's time.
Annual reports by the Board of Trustees for the Social Security Trust Funds show estimates of future COLAs. Below are estimates based on 3 sets of economic assumptions from the latest report.
Effective monthMonth first payableLow costIntermediateHigh costDec. 2011Jan. 2012.6%.7%1.2%Dec. 2012Jan. 20131.2%1.7%2.4%Dec. 2013Jan. 20141.3%1.9%2.8%The Board of Trustees regards the intermediate estimates as their best estimates.
I don't know where you got 3.3. It looks like .7 % to me.
sorry the chart didn't make it. Anyway, the intermediate estimate for Dec 2011 is point 7 (.7) I do wish it could be 3.3 instead...........
Sorry, Barb, you are confusing an estimate made in advance with the actual facts as they are derived during the course of the year. Take a look at the link I posted earlier in this thread. It will show you exactly how the upcoming COLA is figured and where we are in that process at this point in time.
With one political party set on destroying Social Security I can't see how a COLA won't be held hostage. I think we will be lucky to keep what we are getting
With one political party set on destroying Social Security I can't see how a COLA won't be held hostage. I think we will be lucky to keep what we are getting
The COLA can't be held hostage by one party because Congress does not vote on the amount of the COLA or whether one should be given. The Social Security Act provides for an automatic increase in Social Security benefits if there is an increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of the last year a cost-of-living adjustment was determined (2008) to the third quarter of the current year. It is automatic.
Now Congress may at some future point amend the law to use a different index, but that's a different issue.
The COLA can't be held hostage by one party because Congress does not vote on the amount of the COLA or whether one should be given. The Social Security Act provides for an automatic increase in Social Security benefits if there is an increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of the last year a cost-of-living adjustment was determined (2008) to the third quarter of the current year. It is automatic.
Now Congress may at some future point amend the law to use a different index, but that's a different issue.
Excellent explanation - precise and complete but not wordy. Remember how so many people blamed Obama when there was no Social Security COLA in 2010, as if he personally had decided upon that outcome? I am not even an Obama fan myself, but it is ignorant and unfair to blame him for something he had nothing to do with. We will probably need to come back to your explanation again in the months to come.
I don't view COLA's as a "due" or a right, but it's something to look forward to, or be disappointed in, depending on the situation.
My peeve is the people who depend on them, yet make no effort in learning how the CPI is determined, and think either the President or Congress just decides not to grant a COLA in a given year.
to be honest they do just decide cause they lie and say the inflation is down when its Higher than a kite and don't realize that clerical workers pay no more or no less than we on SSI. the COLA should be determined by the price of Items it takes for survival and those who are disabled should not be forced to Just barely get by since they are allowed no other income even if its not from work, I mean the only income they should be allowed to count is that from Labor, aka work which is what the disabled are supposed to be unable to do, but they still count unearned income such as gifts or winnings which I think is wrong because the winnings aren't coming from them, pure and simple, anyway congress does just decide instead of taking a pay cut they think 174,000 a year isn't enough to live on for them... Bull****
actually I think they should make up for the lies they told cause the inflation has not been down and has not gone down since shortly before bush left office, therefore there was absolutley no reason to deny the ones on SSI their COLA, they already give them too little as it is. they should not expect those on SSI to have to keep getting more and more help from local and state government for things like housing and food stamps. people on SSI are human beings that have been delt a bad hand either physically or mentaly and should not be forced to remain below the poverty level., if they are going to determine how much they can have a month, fine but only count extra income if it comes from LABOR... AKA WORK, not gifts, and not winnings such as Lottery tickets given to them by a friend or family member.
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to be h0nest
